Several years ago Greg stuck his head into the bathroom while I was taking my morning shower and asked, “Heads or tails?” I had no idea what he was talking about, but I picked one. A few minutes later, when I was dressed for the day, I asked for an explanation. His response was simple, “Heads we go east, tails we go west.”
I had picked heads, so with a sunny day ahead of us and nothing better to do, we jumped in the car, put the top down, and headed east. On that particular day, we ended up in St. Michael’s, Maryland. We wandered the shops, admired the boats – both docked and offshore – and enjoyed a lunch of fresh crab cakes and ice cold “Natty Boh” (Marylanders will get the reference).
It has become a “thing” for us. When faced with a weekend day, a sunny forecast and nothing particularly pressing scheduled, we flip a coin, grab a map and go exploring.
Back east, our days often ended in little historic towns like Washington, Virginia (home of the world famous Inn at Little Washington) or Manassas; museums like the Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover (Delaware) Air Force Base, or, more often, at wineries that dot the Virginia countryside.
Since we moved to Arizona, we find ourselves exploring long roads to nowhere, ghost towns and … you guessed it … wineries. We’ve stayed close to home at times, checking out the fun and funky town of Cave Creek with its colorful shops and wild west vibe. We’ve wandered through Old Town Scottsdale.
We headed to Lake Pleasant and enjoyed the day so much we created a list of parks and trails to explore near home.
A simple day spent exploring something close to home can leave you feeling like you just had a mini-vacation. You don’t have to spend time planning it. You don’t have to worry about reservations or packing. You just have to be willing to go somewhere you’ve read about, or seen a sign for, or stumbled upon.
There’s a whole world out there just waiting to be explored. Flip a coin and head out for a day of adventure!
The World A to Z 